Using broken stuff for Bushcrafting

[Tony]

So, I was just thinking (probably because of the thread on making an e-Bike) about broken things and then thought a thread on using broken things could be fun.

So, what can you use from say, a broken bike for helping with bushcraft/outdoor adventuring, maybe in an emergency. The premise is that it's no good for riding, but it can be stripped and bits used, what would you strip from it and what would you use those bits for?
Hope that makes sense!

cables could be used for cordage? That sort of thing...

 

[punkrockcaveman]

I have a bunch of spokes from when I thought I could just attempt to build a bike wheel with zero experience

Spokes are great for pokey things, pot hanger hooks, lid lifters etc. You could probably fashion some kind of automatic fishing hook as they are quite springy. Maybe even a mouse/rat trap could be made from a couple

 

[Toddy]

Inner tube cut into pieces = a lifetime's worth of reliable fire starting
They don't need to be carefully stored, or even kept dry.

Not quite bushcrafty, but....

I know ladies in South America used bike wheel spokes to make their knitting needles....not a native craft there and they didn't have anything else at the time.

I know someone who welded up the frames of several old bikes to make a kind of arty garden feature that he grew honeysuckle over......and another who used the old tyre of one to surround a charity shop round mirror to protect the edges when he set it up to give him a view along the roadway to make exiting his driveway safer.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Inner tubes can be cut up for ranger bands, catty bands and cordage.

 

[billycoen]

The rear light is handy for map reading in the dark.And my marine fish can't see red light either.

 

[Kadushu]

I've seen bike wheels without the tyres used as pulleys. I've also seen old bikes used to power a washing machine, a wood saw and a water pump but there are no doubt endless uses for rotary motion.

 

[Tengu]

Spokes, hammered flat and filed to a point, have been used as wood drill bits.

 

[billycoen]

A few spokes across a couple of rocks over a campfire,homemade grill.

 

[saxonaxe]

Not so much bicycle parts, but I occasionally find uses for other things, some of which it seems a shame to just throw away.

One of those cheap little torches with an Aluminium body finally went kaputt. The contacts at the bulb end failed, so I blanked off the lens with a 5p coin which just happened to fit when wrapped in tin foil.
The battery compartment became a home for a wax impregnated cotton wool pad which when rolled up left room for some Ration Pack matches, giving me a small waterproof firelighting kit.






I also make Match Safes from spent plastic shotgun cartridge cases trimmed to length. A 20 bore will fit into a 16 bore, a 16 into a 12. Not 100% waterproof if totally submerged for a time, but they float anyway and I've fished them out of puddles before and the matches were perfectly dry.

 

[Erbswurst]

I use stainless steel cables from the boat shop to hang my pot over the fire, instead of a heavier rattling cooking chaine.

The break cables of bicycles would also work.

 

[Toddy]

I was just going to say that very thing. Warthog1981 made me a set of bails for my hobo stove set up from brake cables. Very sound

How about the re-use of clothing. Like sturdy stuff sacks from the lower legs of jeans to hold tent pegs or the fireirons ?

 

[Erbswurst]

I recently organised some old seat belts to make tent stake cases for lightweight tent stakes.

 

[Robson Valley]

Whip off the tire and tube and use the whole wheel for a fire grill. You could cook on 1/4 of it at a time if you got clever.

 

[Erbswurst]

One could surely also use inner tire tubes, fork, electrical wires, a piece of outer tire, handle wrap and steel balls to make a sling shot that's suitable for hunting small animals.

But my question to that all is:

If Robinson Crusoe would have found a broken bike on his island, would he have also found a tool box with all the special tools? .


You can make nevertheless the complete equipment out of rubbish.
Some people indeed make a sport from it. But that's rather not my personal stile.

 

[Wayland]

I break down lots of things for raw materials and they go into the hoard until I find a use for them.

The dustbin is a last resort for me.

 

[oldtimer]

Cargo pockets cut out from Craghoppers Kiwi trousers make excellent pouches as they have sub-dividers built in..

 

[Toddy]

@oldtimer
On that note. I recently binned a pair of ladies craghoppers....they had been used for working, and were over twenty years old, they were dead.....but I counted and between all the wee hidden behind other pockets, etc., they had eighteen (18 ! ) pockets, in one pair of trousers
A wee tad overkill.

 

[oldtimer]

Can I use that as an excuse for having left a tissue in a pocket of the pair of my Craghoppers which Madame put in the washing machine yesterday? The bits of tissue went everywhere and covered everthing else in the machine. I doubt I'll hear the end of it!

 

[Kadushu]

I used an old (ahem, no longer long enough) leather belt to make a belt loop for a knife sheath. The sheath was made from scraps of plywood. I also used screws reclaimed from old village hall tables to attach the former to the latter.

 

[Broch]

Can I use that as an excuse for having left a tissue in a pocket of the pair of my Craghoppers which Madame put in the washing machine yesterday? The bits of tissue went everywhere and covered everthing else in the machine. I doubt I'll hear the end of it!

Well, at least modern £10 notes survive